Assessing the Public Health Economic Loss from PM2.5 Pollution in ‘2 + 26’ Cities

Abstract

Due to the fast growth of China’s economy, urban atmospheric pollution has become a serious problem affecting the public’s physical and mental health. The ‘2 + 26’ cities, as the Jing-Jin-Ji atmospheric pollution transmission channel, has attracted widespread concern. There were several previous studies on the economic loss of public health caused by PM2.5 pollution in ‘2 + 26’ cities. To assess the economic loss caused by PM2.5 on human health in ‘2 + 26’ cities, this paper used the exposure-response model, the health effect loss model and willingness to pay method to obtain the economic loss from PM2.5 pollution with the latest available data in 2020. It was concluded that, in 2020, the economic loss of ‘2 + 26’ cities from PM2.5 was spatially distributed low in the east and high in the west. In addition, it was larger in the southern and northern part, which was smaller in the middle of the region. Based on the conclusions, policy recommendations were put forward.